BBC News-"No" Voters Accept Defeat In Kenyan Election

photo credit: Reuters

(Story reported by BBC News)

Leaders of the campaign to vote against a new constitution in Kenya have admitted defeat in a referendum

Preliminary results show almost 70% of voters have backed the changes, which will severely curtail the powers of the president.

Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi, head of the "yes" campaign, said Kenya had been "reborn".

Voting appears to have passed off peacefully, with none of the violence that marred December 2007's election.

The referendum was part of a deal to bring that conflict to an end. More than 1,000 people died in the clashes. 

The new constitution gives citizens a new bill of rights and paves the way for land reform.

"[The] majority had their way, we had our say," said William Ruto, Kenya's higher education minister and a leader of the "no" campaign, as he admitted defeat.

(click here to read the full story on the BBC News website)